User blog:Sam Kay/Rogues Come in Other Flavours than Vanilla
I recently had to build a character for a D&D 4th Edition game. This time, however, we will have new players in the group. Accordingly, to make everything easier for the new players, I was to build a character without homebrew material. No problem. Or it shouldn' be. Except that it is me were talking about. The crazy lunatic spider guy who refuses to play a rogue (or whatever) in the standard flavour. Vanilla rogues. How boring (for me), even after I've spiced things up by making my rogue a drow. So, what to do? Well, for a start, the drow have always been my favourite race to play—especially since they have a strong connection to spiders! So, I started with a drow. Thankfully, all of the party roles were already filled, so I could play any role I wanted. I chose striker, by far my preferred role. But that is the easy part, next I had to choose a class, and work out how to go crazy with it within the official rules. The two striker classes that drow use best (or rather, the two I decided I liked best) are the rogue and the sorcerer. While I wanted the magic of the sorcerer, I prefer the playing style of the rogue. In addition, I wanted to use a sword of some description and I the stealthiness of the rogue fits the drow better than sorcery. So, I picked the rogue as a starting point. But just as a starting point. There is, of course, method to my lack of madness. Of course there is; if I ever do something that isn't mad, I generally have something cleaver, mad or both in mind. In this case, I think both. Firstly, I previously stated that I wanted some magic. A rogue with magic! Surely that needs some serious homebrewing, I hear you say. Not so! In 4e, the introduction of powers meant that power source and balance are completely seperate. So, if you cross out 'martial' and write 'arcane' in all the rogue's class trait box and powers, in game terms it is still identical, but in flavour terms, it is moving away from bland vanilla. Most of the reflavouring from that point is simple. Find a new class background (sorcerer type that deals in shadow and darkfire. Easy.), and do a write up. That's five minutes if you're slow. Then, reflavour powers. That's even easier; add necrotic and fire as a damage type (darkfire!), and for ranged powers, it's simple to call them implement powers and substitute in the values for a shuriken thrown by a rogue (Dexterity +3 Vs. AC (ranged) in the attack entry, xd6 in place of xW in the hit entry). As an added bonus, the rogue even gets a close blast power as a 1st level daily (I'm not joking—check the PHB). And Lo! Instead of vanilla flavoured rogue, We have the cookie-dough, lime, lemon and strawberry choc-o-toffie flavoured shadow lord, a sorcerous master of shadow and flame: Shadow Lord Class Traits Surrounded in magical shadow, shadow lords are dangerous and elusive masters of stealth, slipping in and out of the shadows aided with their mastery over shadow. Shadow lords never strike from the front. As a shadow lord, you live a life surrounded in shadow, but your eyes burn with vengeful fire, a fire you can call to you at whim, amalgamated with the shadow that you command. That is the power of darkfire, a fire that you alone can master. Cloaked in a blackness that is not entirely cloth, you slip through the darkness beyond sight. Who will suffer the next knife in the back? Creating a Shadow Lord The brutal shadow and the stealthy shadow are the two shadow lord builds, one relying on bluffs and feints, the other on brute strength. Dexterity, Charisma, and Strength are the shadow lord’s most important ability scores. Brutal Shadow You like powers that deal plenty of damage, aided by your Strength, and also stun, immobilize, knock down, or push your foes. Your attacks use Dexterity, so keep that your highest ability score. Strength should be a close second—it increases your damage directly, and it can determine other effects of your attacks. Charisma is a good third ability score, particularly if you want to dabble in powers from the other shadow lord build. Select the brutal scoundrel rogue tactic, and look for powers that pack a lot of damage into every punch. :'''Suggested Feat: Weapon Focus (Human feat: Toughness) :Suggested Skills: Athletics, Dungeoneering, Intimidate, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery :Suggested At-Will Powers: Piercing Shadow, Implant Darkfire :Suggested Encounter Power: Torturous Darkfire :Suggested Daily Power: Shadow Grasp Stealthy Shadow You like powers that deceive and misdirect your foes. You dart in and out of the fray in combat, dodging your enemies’ attacks or redirecting them to other foes. Most of your attack powers rely on Dexterity, so that should be your best ability score. Charisma is important for a few attacks, for Charisma-based skills you sometimes use in place of attacks, and for other effects that depend on successful attacks, so make Charisma your second-best score. Strength is useful if you want to choose powers intended for the other shadow lord build. Select the artful shadow dance shadow lord tactic. Look for powers that take advantage of your high Charisma score, as well as those that add to your stealthy nature. :Suggested Feat: Improved Darkfire Strike (Human feat: Human Perseverance) :Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Thievery :Suggested At-Will Powers: Shadow Step, Darkfire Strike :Suggested Encounter Power: Darkfire Step :Suggested Daily Power: Shadow Feint Shadow Lord Class Features All shadow lords share these class features. First Strike At the start of an encounter, you have combat advantage against any creatures that have not yet acted in that encounter. Shadow Lord Tactics Shadow lords operate in a variety of ways. Some shadow lords use their natural charm and cunning trickery to deceive foes. Others rely on brute strength to overcome their enemies. Choose one of the following options. :Shadow Dance: You gain a bonus to AC equal to your Charisma modifier against opportunity attacks. :Brutal Shadow: You gain a bonus to darkfire strike damage equal to your Strength modifier. The choice you make also provides bonuses to certain shadow lord powers. Individual powers detail the effects (if any) your Shadow Lord Tactics selection has on them. Shadow Lord Weapon Talent When you wield a shuriken, your weapon damage die increases by one size. When you wield a dagger, you gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls. Darkfire Strike Once per round, when you have combat advantage against an enemy and are using a weapon from the light blade, the crossbow, or the sling weapon group, or a light blade as an implement, an attack you make against that enemy deals extra damage if the attack hits. You decide whether to apply the extra damage after making the damage roll. As you advance in level, your extra damage increases. The extra damage is fire and necrotic damage. Shadow Lord Powers Your powers are magic spells drawn from your innate mastery over fire and shadow. Some powers reward a high Charisma and are well suited for the stealthy shadow, and others reward a high Strength and appeal to the brutal shadow, but you are free to choose any power you like. Level 1 At-Will Attack Spells Level 1 Encounter Attack Spells Level 1 Daily Attack Spells Category:Blog posts